Title: Soda Preservatives

Problem Scenario: This is important because if you were able to preserve fruit it would make it taste better. Also if you could preserve food with soda you would'nt have to waste money on a refridgerator.

Broad Question: What kind of soda will preserve an apple the longest Mountain Dew, Pepsi, or Diet Pepsi.

Specific Question:Will M0untain Dew preserve an apple longer than Diet Pepsi, Pepsi or a regular apple would.

Hypothesis: I think Mountain Dew will preserve the apple the longest because it has the most citric acid. Citric acid is known to have a chemical in it that is known to keep foods from expiring. Diet Pepsi I think will be the second closest because it also has citric acid as an ingredient however their is slightly less. Pepsi has no citric acid. I think that the controlled group will be the first to turn brown.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:The sodas and apples

Dependent Variable: which Soda will preserve the apple longer.

Controll: An apple that isn't in the soda

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: The apples that are not put in the soda.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Apple: A red fruit that grows in a tree
Soda: A sugary drink that rots your teeth
Preserve: To keep a perishable from expiring

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General Plan

Potential Problems And Solutions

PROBLEM:The jars might spill and i would have to start over.
SOLUTION: Put a lid on it

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Soda really hurts when you get it in your eyes.
It hurts when you get hit in the head with an apple.

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
mountain Dew	1 can	Hannaford	?
Pepsi	1 can	Hannaford	?
Diet Pepsi	1 can	Hannaford	?
Apples	3	Kitchen	?
jars	4	kitchen	?

Detailed Procedure

1. Go to the store and buy a bottle of mountain dew, pepsi, diet pepsi, and a bag of apples.
2. Find four jars in the kitchen
3. Fill Each jar with soda
4. Fill the first jar with mountain dew
5. Fill the second jar with diet pepsi
6. Fill the third jar with pepsi
7. Leave the fourth jar empty, this will be the controlled group.
8. Record the controlled group's results every five minutes until it turns brown.
9. Record the jars with soda every twelve hours until they turn brown.
10. Record Results.

Diagram

Photo List: Soda, Apples, Apples Floating in Soda, The tipes of soda

Time Line

February 16th, 2013 Start experiment_----------------------- End experiment February 30th, 2013

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data: Pepsi Diet Pepsi Mountain Dew Controlled

120 hours 96 hours 204 hours 170 minutes
until brown until brown until brown until brown

Graphs

Photos

Results: Mountain Dew works the best, it preserved the apple slice alot longer than the rest. It took 204 hours to turn brown the others turned brown way before the mountain dew. It was because of the citric acid. However the Diet Pepsi did not do as well as I thought it would. It has some citric acid in it and did not do quite as well as the Pepsi. The pepsi has no citric acid. By far the controlled group did the worst and turned brown within 170 minutes

Conclusion: The mountain dew preserved the apple the longest. The amount of citric acid in it is much more than the Diet Pepsi and the Pepsi has no citric acid. The controlled group took longer to turn brown because all of the experiments were in air tight jars. An apple that is not in a jar would have turned brown much faster. Also if you really wanted to preserve an apple, other than keeping it preserved the longest it the colors of the sodas don't bleed onto the apples. I noticed that the apples in the pepsi and diet were slightly stained from the color of the soda. In my results mountain dew preserved the apple best out of the three sodas I tested.

Discussion: The mountain dew is keeping the apple preserved the longest. It has the most citric acid in it which is keeping it from turning brown as quickly.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

If soda can preserve a sliced apple it will be a lot easier to eat. Also it could probably preserve other things too.

Background Research: Citric Acid helps preserve fruit longer.

Apples and other fruits, like pears and peaches, turn brown within just a few minutes of cutting them. This chemical reaction is called enzymatic browning. The responsible enzyme, polyphenol oxidase, has to be neutralized by an acidic solution if you wish to preserve the color in your canned, frozen or fresh cut apples. The acid will neutralize the enzymes that turn the fruit brown when exposed to oxygen.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/529386-citric-acid-in-apple-browning/#ixzz2JaZYV7el

References

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